


Families

by dropout_ninja



Series: If We Could Just Be What We Wanted [5]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bonding, Cameos, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Not Belonging, Pranks and Practical Jokes, references to Wheeljack/Ratchet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24458089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dropout_ninja/pseuds/dropout_ninja
Summary: Jack puts up with his new siblings.  Miko doesn't know how to belong.  Raf becomes a very popular member of his family.
Series: If We Could Just Be What We Wanted [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761130
Comments: 41
Kudos: 26





	1. Insect Repellent

**Author's Note:**

> This is another sequel to If I Could Just Know What You Wanted. Spoilers for/references to that fic are included in here and it probably won't make much sense without reading that story prior to this.  
> Transformers and its characters do not belong to me. All rights go to their respective owners.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Jack deals with all of the 'Mr. Mimes' his mom has picked up.

Jack had been an only child for a very long time. He'd considered a life with siblings before but, by the time he was sixteen, he really didn't think it mattered. By the time he had turned seventeen, he was more than used to 'family' being himself and his mom. 

Even during his previous occasional imaginings of a bigger family, he'd never pictured _this._ Mostly, he came up with ideas of having a younger brother- close to his age, similar interests, etc. They'd run around as kids being wild. Occasionally, he came up with extra siblings. A sister, or maybe even multiple kids...or maybe even some weird world where he _wasn't_ the oldest.

Since Jack liked being the oldest, he didn't spend much time considering that.

Then he'd started high school and quite honestly had stopped bemoaning his status as an only child. As time passed, he rather liked it. It was easier for his mom to take care of him and it was easier for him to get a job when he didn't have little siblings to watch 24/7. Besides, their house was a good size for two. And Nevada didn't pay its nurses much so they didn't really have plans to go get a bigger house.

Everything about all that felt ironic in hindsight.

He'd gotten extra family members (that he never asked for).

The house was way too small for all of them (even if Arcee did sprawl out on the living room floor during her visits). 

They really did need more room to fit all these stupid, extra bugs that insisted on camping 1) in the backyard (goodbye, the usability of that tiny yard) 2) on the street right outside their house (which the neighbors were NOT fans of) or 3) on the roof (it was a one time incident, but damn if Jack didn't remember his mom having to pay for those repairs). 

They'd try so hard to be active in 'helping'. It was weird because his mom let them. She knew their names and occasionally had herself and her son eat outside so the quartet could feel included and had them help her in errands or whatnot. 

In other words, she'd seemingly gotten used to their presence and he most definitely had not.

And still hadn't, even after a few weeks had passed. Maybe he never would.

After the panic died down and school restarted, Jack had to deal with some blond freshman he'd never met before coming up to ask him "Hey, aren't you the bug boy?" and then the lambasting that came from everyone else who'd overhead it.

Alright, so, first, bug boy?? Excuse him, he knew more aliens than just the insecticon roommates he had now. He knew about the existence of aliens long before anyone here did. He'd been taking one to school for just about a year before the news broke publicly! And she was awesome and feisty and more than made up for a lack of older siblings in his life. She wasn't a big, ugly, stupid bug. 

At this rate, he needed to visit some sort of pest control. But what was he supposed to say? Got anything for oversized metal extraterrestrial vermin? He might as well just walk in and say he was the 'bug boy' and needed to not be anymore. 

He spent a good amount of time internally complaining about all the extras. 

He didn't really feel unjustified in that whining.

Take that very day, for instance. Jack heard the car alarm go off while he was working on schoolwork. It was bad enough that he was working on school. It was June, for crying out loud. It was summer vacation. But it wasn't for them, oh no. Because of the big scare when the insecticons had first shown up in their town, Jasper hadn't really done any school in May. Thus ending classes and finals got to drag out into the summer months.

Fan-fragging-tastic.

But who could concentrate on chemistry with that racket outside? Jack threw his pencil down and scooted his desk chair over to the window to peek out. Ah yeah. That was about what he expected. His mom, calling something up to the two insecticons standing next to her. The insecticon with its foot right next to a car; close enough to trigger its alarm. The neighbor who owned it yelling at his mom. The other insecticon moving to defend her and dropping the shopping bags he had been cradling after making some grand gesture in his boss's defense. The bags crashing on the ground and ruining whatever had been inside. 

Just a normal day at the Darby household.

Man, he missed when it was Arcee here. If the robots in disguise thing had been ruined earlier, she could've been the one outside helping his mom run errands. He felt sure that she wouldn't drop any groceries or couches or whatever his mom wanted to buy.

After dinner, his mom had rushed off to her night shift and two of the insecticons had trailed her haplessly. The others stuck around to 'protect the queen's brood/nest' or whatever. That consisted of the smallest one sleeping out by the garage and the ringleader poking holes in the dirt of the backyard. 

"What the scrap are you doing?" Jack asked after pushing outside (it was a squeeze, since a good chunk of the yard was currently smooshed up with metal). 

Scalewing just kept dipping claws in and out.

"Plants," he said as if that explained something.

What? Did his mom want to plant plants out here? 

They'd probably just get squashed. Besides, how did this guy know the proper hole size for each plant? That's right. He didn't. 

"Can you knock that off?" the teen rubbed his temples in frustration.

Scalewing looked confused. A hesitant hand moved to his head and made to knock Jack's own hands away. 

Um, excuse him- that would probably knock his head off. The teen ducked away and then punched (lightly; no reason to break his own knuckles) the offending alien arm.

"Not that, you idiot."

The insecticon moved his hand back to poking holes in the ground.

"Sorry," Scalewing told him. "Didn't know. Idiot."

It wasn't nearly as satisfying to hear it coming from the guy himself. Jack sighed.

"No, man, I didn't mean it. I mean, you are a bit but that's not..." the human drifted off. 

There weren't many good places to sit out here anymore. He settled with sitting against the sliding door and glaring up at the roommate that he didn't want.

"Why'd you guys have to pick my house?" he spoke again.

Scalewing tilted his head.

"Queen."

That was-

Ugh. 

"Why couldn't you have picked a different queen?" Jack threw his hands up. "Or at least stayed at the autobot base and not here. You're messing with my life."

They were butting into his family life with his mom. It wasn't the same now that she had an immature, barely literate fan club always trying to get to participate in the "hive" (and being humored by his mom, though he didn't know where she got the patience). 

"Don't understand," Scalewing said stiffly.

Of course he didn't. So the teen decided to elaborate. Why not?

"Do you even have any idea what you've done to my life?" Jack moaned. "I used to have a nice house to come home to and relax and now it's a constant disaster zone. I used to look forward to dinners with my mom and now you guys are always sticking your heads through the screen door to ask if you can somehow help. And school-"

Well, granted, school had never been his playground. The wind left his sails a bit at that but he went on anyway.

"I used to be able to go unnoticed at school but now they're always going after me for being the bug boy!" 

He slumped and laughed. 

"Miko and Raf have both been asked by a bunch of professors if they can take them to see the autobots. Me? No professor wants to associate with the kid housing the murder bugs unless they're a-a- biology prof or something. I was the first one to meet an autobot!"

And now look what he'd been socially reduced to.

Oh well. At least he had the internship. He still got his visits with the bots and his internship with Fowler and a good life ahead of him. It was just Jasper that he was known as a repulsive insecticon lover at. A social life at Jasper wasn't everything, he supposed. 

Scalewing just went on poking the ground.

"Sorry," he grunted.

A part of Jack wanted to demand more. Use big words, string a sentence- it was kinda mean though. He didn't need to do that. Besides, the con did sound sorry (even if he also sounded confused).

"Yeah." Jack leaned over his knees without any of his earlier enthusiasm. "It's alright. Not your fault, man."

Even if it wouldn't be happening if Scalewing and co hadn't decided to follow his mom around. 

The insecticon stopped digging holes and put his hands on both of his bent up knees. 

"Help you?" Scalewing offered.

Jack spluttered on his cough.

How, exactly, could the giant klutzy undesired sibling help?

The insecticon was still looking at him hopefully. 

* * *

A few days later and Jack couldn't say he hated the others as much. Sure, they hadn't given him any warning before coming to change his life completely, but hey- the autobots hadn't either. And sure, they'd been following Airachnid around when they kidnapped his mom, but Scalewing and the other three didn't seem like the malicious type that'd actually enjoy that dirty work. 

Jack's dirty work, on the other hand...

It had become a bit of a routine in the last few weeks for Vince and his goonies to show up in some fancy car, order something, and then try to either nab it without paying or else harass him. It used to be his job here that they mocked, but apparently that one blonde's little comment about his association with the alien bugs that nobody liked made for better teasing material.

Well today? Today, that was going to backfire. 

He had Scalewing waiting behind the building. He'd been directed to shift around it as 'sneaky-like' as possible (Jack had a feeling it wouldn't be very possible) so that he could stay out of Vince's attention when the teen would drive into the parking lot and enter the drive through line. 

Somehow, it worked. Vince drove up as casually ever. He had some other kids in the car that were probably popular but that Jack honestly couldn't say he even knew the names of. They ordered with their usual edge, drove up, reached for the bags with some comment-

And then fell completely silent.

"What is that?" Vince squeaked in a completely unflattering soprano. 

The teen looked out of the window to the insecticon standing at the end of the drive through lane.

"Oh, him?" Jack played coy. "This is just Bob."

Keeping a straight face was harder than it looked. He wondered if this was how Raf and Miko felt when they'd tried lying to Optimus while he took Bumblebee racing. 

Vince was still gaping up at the con. Bob was smiling back, even if he didn't know it; insecticon faces were just frozen in a really unpleasant looking smile.

"He's just here for a wash and his _supplements_ ," he lowered his voice ever so slightly and watched the redhead's grimace curl. 

"W-what-"

It was a good thing 'Bob' had already been told how to play this. Knowing Scalewing's insistence on being an idiot (a nice one), he'd be acting just as confused at Jack's story.

As it was, the insecticon just stood there without a word.

"You know-" Jack leaned over the window to look up at the insecticon and then back down at Vince conspiratorially. "Supplements. So that he's not hungry." The teen shrugged casually. "They've got to eat a whole lot and being surrounded by a city of food? Can't be easy. So I'm in charge of getting them something to take the edge off that hunger, you know?"

Apparently, all Vince and his crew knew was that they wanted out of there. The car accelerated out, stopped sharp at Scalewing's legs, and then made a messy turn to get around them. Jack hopped up into the window sill and over to watch him go. He offered a half hearted yell that it was a joke just so that he could avoid some of the mess of angry humans swarming to get the 'meat eating aliens' out of their suburbans. Oh, his mom was going to be mad if the cops showed up to demand that. 

"Good job, 'Bob'," the human laughed up at the insecticon when he reached the giant feet. "That was cool."

"Cool?" Scalewing tilted his head. It was kinda a hilarious image, now that he thought about it. The confusion was too. This guy acted like he would've back in freshman year- never been called cool or thought himself ever able to reach a status of 'popularity' or anything. Scrap, the way Jack had been treating them all probably made them feel like they'd never win over the second member of the Darby 'hive'. 

Jack doubled backwards laughing at the unsure confusion and the comparison and Vince's lost composure. Before he'd even recognized what he was doing, one fist had lifted and hung in the air unsteadily through his cackles.

"Yeah-" he grinned and gestured with his free hand for the other to finish the fist bump. "Cool."


	2. Don't Bother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miko's parents are oblivious to how much stake she's put in her new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't as humorous/fluffy as Jack's chapter, but IICJKWYW Miko (and any Miko post-Hardshell) is a fountain of potential angst so this is what we've got here.

Miko hadn't seen her parents in a good long while.

It wasn't their fault or hers per se. They were a continent away. Most people thought that was pretty far. Most people didn't have access to a ground/spacebridge. 

They'd paid for her ticket to return a few weeks back and she'd missed the flight. After the news broke out, she could've groundbridged over fast. She could've. So why hadn't she?

The base sure was empty without the others. Sure, Jackie and Ratchet were staying around (and looking far too sly for her to not be making Assumptions) and Magnus showed up alot and the whole team (plus way too many decepticons, yeesh) would come through in order to go on some oversized stage and do meet and greets with the human press, but...it wasn't quite the old days. It was rushed now. And she didn't really want Megatron or the other fraggers messing around with her place of metal zen. 

Everything just had to change and it was stupid. The team had gotten busy, the world had gotten in on her private secret, and nothing was as perfect anymore. There was even a new human, for crying out loud! She was...Well, she was pretty cool. Old, but cool. But Miko couldn't like her on principle for now. She felt like a replacement wrecker. Sure, Magnus once helped Bulkhead in teaching her how to use the Apex Armor but he never called her an intern or "adopted" (Wheeljack's opinion) her. 

Miko was very defensive over her position as a human wrecker. The first one. The one with the coolest partner and his old bro and their really hardass boss. The wrecker trio turned quartet- now that. That was family.

But now she was running around with her parents while some twenty-something year old chick stole her spot in the wrecker quartet. 

It was stupid. 

She'd get over it.

All of this was temporary. Pretty soon, she'd find a grove to fit into again. Maybe move full time to the _Nemesis_? That'd be nice. Mrs. Darby always gave her the evil eye for talking that way when she'd do it in public. Fowler wasn't keen on the idea, no matter how much she tried to argue it in a rational manner (she could be a human liaison consultant over there! He was one here on Earth, so why couldn't she be stationed on Cybertron? How rad would that be?). Ah well. She'd convince him to give her her way eventually. She always did.

The host parents were a perfect example. They'd wanted to host a bright kid from overseas that they could take to dinners and games and help with schoolwork. She'd wanted nothing to do with the couple and was only interested in spending her time out of that house. Which one had gotten their way on the matter?

But her real parents...

They were stubborn too. Maybe she got it from them a bit. 

Even if the plane hadn't carried her back and she'd never offered a groundbridge, they still made their way over. Her dad and mom said they'd gotten overtime to save up for a visit and they had more than enough vacation days to take off for that very visit. They rented at the nicest hotel Jasper had to offer, came all suited up to the host parents place, and exchanged stuffy adult talk with them. The two couples hit it off well. They decided to go out to dinner and talk about more adult things (and occasionally Miko, in a manner like she wasn't even there). Both her parents were in stylish suits. The host parents were dressed casual classy. They'd all eyed her punky outfit and made no comment. Sometimes she wished they'd make a comment. If she was doing something they didn't like, they could have the guts to say it. Bulkhead would. Sure, she'd give him a million excuses, but... it... let her know he cared...

Alright she needed out of here. No more casino restaurant, no more pop music playing over a hundred diner's talking, no more stuffy human business. 

This wasn't her world. 

Hers was full of noise and metal muscle and awesome people. Bulkhead: 'nough said. Jackie: a fellow bro. Knock Out: someone who knew that bright shiny colors were a perk and also knew what it was like to have an absence of guilt that made them not quite fit in. Magnus: all the stuffy she needed in life while still managing to matter so much to get the approval of. All of them.

Every slagging one of them.

She even defaulted to their cursing now. Mostly because it offended the Darby's less and didn't upset Raf, but still. Miko tried to picture herself in this setting five years down the road. Wearing some pastel outfit and laughing airily with other adults and then saying 'frag' or something and watching them all go dead confused.

Yeah.

Yeah, she couldn't do it. 

One day during the next week, she did something she didn't think she ever wanted to. She tried to cross the streams. If her home life was going to push its way over here, then she'd just escort home life to the one that actually mattered.

The parents were apparently nervous about the bots. She guessed it was probably the size. Pft, the size was what made them all so _fantastic_. She introduced them to the happy hubbies (and got kicked out of the main room by Ratchet for it), her commander (a rank her parents seemed disinterested to hear) and his new 'niece' (who her parents sneered at once she'd turned her back; Miko decided then that she would like the new human wrecker, if just because her parents didn't) and shared all of her pictures of Bulkhead in absence of having the real deal. 

They stayed there past lunch time before Miko felt satisfied going over to the hotel. She hadn't gone back to the host parent's house since her family from Tokyo had arrived. She hadn't stayed with them each night either. For one, she'd snuck out to the Equivel's. For the other, she'd crashed on a sleeping bag next to one of the insecticons in the Darby's back yard. 

For this night-

Well. She didn't want to impose on either friend. She didn't want to go to the host parent's house. She didn't want to stay in some stuffy hotel while the TV ran and her mother asked about her school and if she’d kept up with her piano lessons (frag no; she was a metal fan through and through and the guitar was her trusty instrument of audial violence) and her father questioned whether she'd established a real social life (with other humans, distinguished ones preferably that she could keep in contact with forever). 

She wanted to crash on the couch in the autobot base. But even that wouldn't feel right with only a few bots there.

Fine, she could say it to herself. She wanted Bulkhead. She wanted the unquestioning support he gave and the advice he offered that she liked to ignore and the crazy fun activities they'd get into. 

The teen called the resident medic to ask for a transport out of the hotel parking lot to the base. Her parents didn't question her decision to leave, even if they did resonate with disapproval at her choice to not stay the night with them. They never did question her much.

Once she got to the base, she hightailed it over to one specific garage and the toy she kept in there. Miko crawled into the Apex Armor and convinced Ratchet to let her go through to Cybertron. The old guy didn't fight it much for once. Just told her to say hi to Bulkhead for him and sent her in.

They didn't get to spend that much time on Cybertron, but she'd found ways past that. Dangerous atmosphere? That's what the armor was for. Uncomfortable armor to sleep in? That's what the warship was for. No way to eat or drink or pee in that armor? Again, warship. She had food and drinks stored there and it hadn't been that much work to get a toilet of kinds installed for overnight visitors (even if the vehicons they shared the ship with were incredibly disturbed with what it was they were installing). 

In other words, Loopholes Ahoy. Miko took full advantage of those she'd come up with. 

She was running out of time back on Earth. Summer was here and Jasper's school was behind a bit courtesy of the insecticon scare but it'd be letting out eventually. She had to convince her folks to let her stay again (her human friends were here, in Nevada; besides, Raf shouldn't have to deal with taking high school alone for the next two years with a crowd of stupid [but not in her charming way] idiots), but even that only applied to the school year. 

Summer was set in Japan. 

There was no wheedling out of that one. 

Even with the junior consultant job they had going on with Unit:E or the loyalty to the bots or the cool music equipment set up immovably in the autobot base here...

The sadness of that reality tried to make a big deal out of itself. Miko told it to frag off and then proceeded to ignore the reality of Japan looming over her. 

The way she thought of it, this here was her home. This was her family. Japan was just going to be a glamping trip or something. Nothing permanent. She'd make it back to here. She had to. She'd sold everything to this life and, whether they realized it or not, her parents were going to have to accept that fact.

A shame they really didn't realize it yet.

She'd seen the way they'd toured around and looked at everything she'd excitedly shown off and then went right into talking with her about school or friends or dates or whatever human thing they actually thought she ought to care about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love how many of you have stuck with the story into the sequels <3 Have a great day everyone!


	3. Novelty Sibling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were so interested in Bee. And who could blame them? He just kinda wished, sometimes, that they could've offered this rapt attention to him without making him go to get his best friend's help. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

Raf may have missed the old days a bit, but he liked a whole lot about the new. For one, the danger wasn't as present. He didn't have to worry about Megatron zapping him with dark energon or a zombie con chasing him through an alternate dimension or any of the stuff the old days got him into. Sure, it also meant he didn't get to race against a clock in helping the autobots, but in return for all of them being safe? It was no challenge at all to pick now. Besides, if he wanted a challenge he could play hack against Laserbeak or ask Ratchet to up the difficulty of their cybertronian lesson. 

The real downside wasn't a lack of adventure. It was the separation. But even that wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Ratchet was still in Nevada nearly 24/7. Sure, he went on flights around the solar system in the _Jackhammer_ sometimes, but they were never longer than a week. Raf was very close with Ratchet. It was nice that he still was able to visit him just about every day.

And Bumblebee? Even if he was gone some of the time, he kept himself connected. Raf got emails. So many emails. If he wasn't so fond of them, the sheer amount could've been exhausting. There were almost always pictures attached to keep him updated. There was the one with Bee riding around on top of the big dragon (predacon) while holding the star saber (it was obviously an attempt to parody human knights vs dragons media and Raf couldn't help but laugh), the one with the lone scraplet he'd run across (apparently taken from behind careful cover while scouting; the scraplet itself was just crawling around on the ground while the mech taking the picture hid), the one of a Cybertronian sunset (or more like the forty-two sunset pictures he'd been sent so far)...things like that. It was nice. Raf liked the snapshots into everyday life on Cybertron.

He'd gotten to visit too, which was always fun. Raf really liked the inside of the warship when it didn't feel like a place he'd get stomped on by the nearest decepticon in. Everyone on board was pretty cool. The old gang were here, some of the new guys were neat to meet, and Raf didn't bother to hide the fact that he even rather liked some of the decepticons (former or otherwise).

No sir. He really didn't have anything to complain about.

Even his siblings were all over him now. 

Thing was...that wasn't as exciting as he thought it would be.

Sure, they were paying attention. They looked his way when he'd enter the room. A bunch of them wanted to talk with him all the time. He wasn't invisible anymore. And most of them liked to repeat that one question:

_Can we see it?_

First of all, 'it' wasn't an it. And Bumblebee was a busy mech who couldn't exactly squeeze into their living room. The Esquivel house was comfortable enough to fit the whole family. It wasn't large, but it was a good size. Not good enough for a giant robot though. 

Fortunately, the garage managed it. So, one afternoon after the war had ended, Bee squished himself into the garage and the rest of his family squeezed in too. 

They ate snacks (well, Bee didn't, but the humans did) and met each other and then his brother (the one closest to him in age) Michael and cousin Vicky demanded to hear some of the big 'fight stories'. Raf obliged and shared some of the most exciting moments they'd shared together during the war on Earth. He even shared some of the ones he wasn't there for (with Bee's permission). The end of the war was a big moment and Raf was so proud of his friend for managing it- even if Megatron hadn't bothered to stay dead. 

So they ended up on that one.

"He grabbed the star saber and helped push it in when Optimus stopped. And then he up and finished stabbed him all the way!" Raf made the stabbing gesture grandly. "Right through the spark!"

His mother gasped in appreciation. One of his sisters grinned and muttered an enthusiastic 'wicked' under her breath. Michael looked far more thrilled than he had ever looked at any of the stories Raf had tried to tell him before.

They moved on to questioning the authenticity of the story once Liz pointed out that Megatron was still alive and pretty clearly not-stabbed on the news, which led them to talking about Unicron, which led to all kinds of rabbit holes. Bee got dragged into answering the questions while Raf got up to go use the bathroom in the house.

It was quiet in the hallway. After all the noise out there, it felt a little disorienting. Even more disorienting was the realization that most of that noise out there had been coming from _him_. He'd been talking and they were actually listening instead of talking over him. They were so interested in the stories that they hadn't started any conversations of their own.

So interested in Bee. And who could blame them?

He just kinda wished, sometimes, that they could've offered this rapt attention to him without having to get his best friend's help. 

Raf stalled up short. The bathroom visit dragged on longer than intended. The quiet of the house didn't completely mute the sound of all the talking happening in the garage. The tween got himself a cup of water and waited in the kitchen until he felt like rejoining. 

The kitchen door opened and deposited Michael into the same room as him. His brother was a good two feet taller than him and had a place on the high school soccer team when Raf himself felt himself agonizing in every PE lesson he attended. Despite that difference and the two years between them, their class level was the same. It wouldn't be for long. Raf was going to be surpassing him soon enough. It didn't really get brought up. Michael didn't tend to talk with him that much anyway anymore. He was too busy with everything social and stealing the attention of the family.

"Hey!" the teen came over to his seat at the kitchen table. 

Raf smiled up at him and let his cup sit alone.

"Why aren't you out there?" 

It was so different for that to actually be noticed. Normally, he could slip out without even being noticed (not that he did; he was responsible, not someone like _Miko_ ) and when he did sit around with his family, they practically saw right past him. He'd meant what he'd told Ratchet; they didn't hear him here when there were so many others to get the attention. Bee listened long before he was some sort of _novelty_. 

The tween sighed.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. I..."

There was a lot to say if he did want to put his thoughts into words, but how should that even be done? Raf tried to vocalize it all the way to the point where Michael started looking at him incredulously.

"This isn't new," he said in contrast to Raf's comments. "You've always been getting our attention, long before you brought a robot home."

Really? Raf couldn't stop himself from brightening at the promise there. 

"But you guys are always ignoring me. I thought you never paid attention to what I was doing anymore," the boy tried. 

There had been so many achievements that he'd wanted to share and celebrate that had gotten drowned under the achievements of everybody else competing for attention.

"What?" Michael grinned, shaking his head. "You were reading computer code at like three!" His brother laughed and it made Raf smile. "You were skipping classes and you're already halfway done with high school at, what, thirteen? You're a maniac!"

But none of that was old news. So why was it being treated like something he was always being given attention for?

"We've always been jealous of you." Michael ruffled his hair. "How can we not be?"

But-

"That's not the impression you give me," Raf argued. 

He was the kid that just got forgotten. There, but unimportant. One couldn't be jealous of the unimportant.

"Yeah, but think about it-" his brother replied seriously. "We already couldn't compare to you. If I knew I couldn't compare, then I didn't really have anything to talk with you about."

It didn't make sense. It did, in a way, but it still didn't. There was plenty he could have talked about outside school or code. Cars, racing, games, books. Raf protested as much.

"Look at you, kid," Michael shook his head. "Your alien friend is in the other room right now. How even did you manage to find an alien? We should've been so much more suspicious after that muscle car showed up outside to take you to school. You’ve got an internship with the government and personal lessons with a world famous- pft, _galactic_ famous- doctor. What else can I say, little bro?"

What could he?

"You're awesome."

Raf couldn't stop his grateful smile- even if he still felt like the compliment was only coming now because of his friend in the other room. 

* * *

After the dinner, Raf and Bumblebee drove back into Jasper.

"So." The wheel lit up with his voice. It used to do that with his old voice too; with the beeps and whirs that Raf had always understood without understanding why. "What'd you want to do now?"

Beeps or words- either way was still Bee. Still the friend who had liked him far before he'd gotten 'cool'. Still the brother who'd be sending random snippets of his life during their time separated. 

"Earth already knows you guys are all here," Raf patted the seatbelt he was wearing. "So do you want to come with me to an arcade or something and be yourself there?"

It'd draw attention. It wouldn't matter. He couldn't pretend that he hadn't long hoped to go play around with Bee even in public areas- not for the attention, but for the sensation of doing something normal with his best (but far from 'normal) friend.

"Sounds great!" the cybertronian said. 

And even if only one of them had a mouth at the moment, they both were smiling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is marked as complete but I'd like to add another chapter with all 3 kids and more of the bots together sometime. I'll keep the chapter status where it's at for the moment, but don't be surprised if a chapter 4 does show up.


	4. Bonus-  An Expanding Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June takes in the changes time brings and makes a decision to more actively include the base's newest human. Easier said than done when that human makes an effort to keep away from her attempts at conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bonus chapter! My original thought for a bonus chapter was going to be about all three kids chilling, but this idea bit me and wouldn't let go, so instead it centers around June and Verity with the trio in the background.  
> This chapter could warrant the fic's rating change from a G to something higher, but I'll just put it's content warnings here rather than change the fic itself's rating when the three main chapters fit general audiences. CW for this chapter goes for trauma, referenced violence, referenced Airachnid, and implied adult content.

The kids didn't always want her hovering, no matter if they were hardly _kids_ anymore. Well, Raf was, despite how he'd gone through a growth spree to beanpole state, but her son wasn't a high schooler anymore. Despite the fact that he was a technical adult, he was still her child. It was impossible to view him as anything else. Jack being the same Jack tended to act embarrassed about her still. No matter what danger shoved them protectively closer to each other, there were still those moments when he just wanted to be with his two best (human) friends without her joining in. June let it be. They all deserved their chances to be the trio independently without feeling like they had to filter everything for her sake. Besides, with Raf there, she knew the more troublesome of the trio would be filtering out anything inappropriate anyways. 

All of this was to say that June did not feel upset stepping back. Not, at least, for an hour or two. They were getting ready for a busy crowded day tomorrow (they were all planning a housewarming party for the place out in Wyoming the team had been scraping together for Breakdown and Knock Out) and there was hardly a problem with giving the kids a chance to hang out unimpeded before that point. At some point, she'd have to go get started on the dinner they all planned on sharing here at the autobot base. 

Until then, June had wandered off from where the kids were squished on the couch that Miko tended to use as her bed more nights than she did the bed at her host house (June disapproved, but that wasn't worth telling the teen) and were loudly competing in some video game on the television provided for human guests. 

Along the way out, she'd run into another one of the humans occasionally found wandering the base recently and managed to convince her to join in conversation. 

For the moment, the cybertronian ship belonging to Ultra Magnus was parked outside the base while its owner went off to do some legal meeting or other. The presence of that ship meant the presence of its singular human inhabitant, who had the habit of occupying this base regularly even when the _Iron Will_ did not. June had run into her a few times but all those meetings had been rather short. Most of her familiarity with Verity came from what the kids had said unimpeded. Jack, as the only current adult of the consultant trio, had apparently started some arguments with the older adult over which of them had a more verifiable job amongst the autobots. Miko had spent months complaining about the 'replacement human wrecker' until a visit from her family had changed that attitude into praise for that 'extra honorary wrecker' instead. Raf was the only one who hadn't gossiped much on that subject. Raf didn't tend to gossip in the first place, so that was hardly a surprise. He was far more likely to go show off a picture from his phone of some scraplet or strange colored rock that Bumblebee had found and emailed to him than he was apt to spread stories and personal news around. 

All that aside, June had ended up near the gym of the base and tried to put the younger woman at ease while also trying to encourage Verity _not_ to run off from potential conversation no matter how much easier that would be than sticking around. 

It lasted better than many of the other attempts she'd done so far. For a while, the other kept her arms at ease against the wall she was leaning on while June sat more professionally. 

"You're the one with the bug entourage, right?" she said bluntly at one point.

The nurse lifted an eyebrow pointedly. It only encouraged elaboration, as it was.

"The bug mom. You know. The one that those four insecticons are in this town for."

At that, June laughed. No matter how that 'entourage' had been introduced to her, she tried to take the ignorant fame of the town in stride. None of them had to know about the former queen and days spent with only water to keep her alive while sweet tones told story after story of torture and pain and the fire it lit in the speaker to witness, to cause, to feel. They simply didn't have to know. It helped her ignore it if no one was aware of that introduction. 

"That's correct," the nurse accepted. "And you're the one that's not even a part of Fowler's consultant team here, right?"

At the tease, the younger adult lifted her arms to cross and humphed. 

"Hey, I'm an official intern here," Verity replied.

It was said casually enough in an attempt to fit in with the joking tone of before, but there was no hiding the edge behind the words and body language. 

June had a feeling that the young adult was on edge around her specifically compared to what she'd witnessed of interactions with any of the kids or her boss. Or not specifically, per se. She was on edge around Agent Fowler and some of the autobots (mainly Ratchet or Orion). It was something about her body language; how her arms would raise to cross, her shoulders lifting in the posture. An aggressive sort of defensive posture. 

The nurse pursed her lips briefly. It wasn't too hard to see what was happening here. But June wasn't about to get smothering or patronizing or angry. No more than Ratchet or Orion or Fowler would (or, at the least, Orion). Verity didn't have to worry about them tugging her off to some authority because she seemed suspicious or abrasive or anything (likely related to her _not belonging_ here despite Magnus allowing her to be). Considering what June had gleaned about the latest human presence in this team, it wasn't surprising that she'd be ready to assume those defenses.

Not surprising, if still sad. 

They moved the conversation away. Gradually, Verity let her arms drop back down again. So long as the conversation was not on whether or not she belonged in this base legally or officially or through contract or whatnot, she was less ready to go on the defense. 

So June asked about her favorite ventures in her employ as Ultra Magnus's assistant, how she felt about visiting Cybertron, what it was like staying in the base with the kids or just the autobots- casual enough questions. Verity obviously enjoyed the former two and seemed amused when discussing the latterest. 

"You're lucky you're you," Verity laughed at one point. "Your job doesn't have Miko hounding you about getting a chance to stowaway on board Uncle Magnus's ship."

No, it did not. The teen would be bored out of her wits in the hospital no matter what emergencies there were. 

"You haven't let her on that ship without permission, have you?" June asked quickly. 

That would require some Words if it had happened. 

The other shook her head.

"Nah. Much as I get what she's after, that's _my_ ship. Besides, she's gotten distracted with a new task involving him lately. She's been trying to find the 'perfect match' for what she thinks Mag's will consider 'husband material." At June's stare, Verity shrugged. "Her words, not mine." 

Mhm. June couldn't say she was surprised. Miko had gotten into occasional moods of matchmaking every once in a while and then tended to get relieved when her matches did not end up a reality. 

So long as she wasn't stowing away to outer space without permission, no intervention needed to occur. 

"Completely Ratch and Jackie's fault," the intern continued. The ease with which she'd already picked up nicknames helped put June herself at a different ease; if she'd been uncomfortable about it before, she felt more ready to accept that the human team here had truly expanded to fit another member. "I guess she's never gone to peek around their room only to sneak in and find out they're very much still in it. That'd probably get her off Mag's back."

For a moment, June nodded in absent agreement. Then she was looking at the other in suspicion. 

"You did not just imply what I think you did, young lady," she started up. For a moment, this could have been any of the other nurses in her wing that she caught a friendly conversation with rather than a twenty-something former delinquent turned alien assistant. 

"Oh, I've seen too much," Verity winked.

Now, she was just trying to get under June's skin. See how far the chill parent persona could be stretched before it snapped into reprimand mode. 

The nurse didn't have any plans to let what progress they'd made today fall apart. 

"And what would your 'uncle' think about that?" she replied instead innocently. Watching the younger adult choke cued her in that the response had been successful enough. Verity had been put at ease again, choked amusement aside. 

"No way. I'd hate to ruin his innocence or opinion of those two by exposing him to that."

June didn't bother to mention that Magnus's opinion on Wheeljack had already sat near rock bottom in the past and was far more respectful now. And Ratchet, well. He wasn't one to cower from just anyone giving off a scathing remark. 

From the main room, Jack yelled for her. It was met by Miko screeching the same words (just to make sure they heard, no doubt) and Ratchet's irritation at the noise was plainly audible after. June sat up and motioned at the other. 

"Are you going to be joining us? You're always invited to."

There was something unreadable enough from the intern. 

"Nope. I gotta go get to work. Got food on the ship anyway," she shrugged, voice flatly unconvincing even as she started to slip away.

June reached out and grabbed an arm before the retreat could be successful. The mother and the younger woman held still for a moment; June to look over that confusion and readied aggression, Verity to tilt her head in investigation of the other's genuine expression. 

"Verity." 

The tensed coil of muscle seemed to loosen under that calmed tone. 

"Go ahead and join us. Anytime we're around and you want to, come right ahead. Besides, I've got tri-tip waiting. That's probably a bit more exciting than whatever you've got on that ship, isn't it?"

Verity went quiet to think about it; her arm stayed limp in the nurse's grip and her teeth worried absently at her bottom lip. A minute later and she'd tugged herself free gruffly. 

"Fine, sure. Steak beats Lucky Charms. This time around, at least." 

June resisted the urge to smile pointedly at her as they both made their way to where the bbq awaited. 

* * *

It was undoubtedly less exciting than what chaos would likely be happening at tomorrow's party, but that didn't stop any of them from goofing around a bit. Arcee had shown up after half an hour or so and was currently laying nearby offering dry commentary on their cooking fiasco. It was a position almost shared by Verity, who'd taken up a place against the stairway wall and took some time to ease into adding commentary of her own. Most of that would bristle Jack and then they'd be arguing back and forth until Arcee's laughter broke both off. 

When the bbq had lit up far too much and the culprit was caught with the lighter fluid she most certainly hadn't been allowed, a portion of the meal had to be tossed in the garbage. Miko had been banned after that. Judging by the awarding gestures given by Wheeljack before he'd been shoved away by Ratchet, it wasn't much of a punishment in her eyes. 

The bbq itself ended up rather hijacked by Raf. The teen talked throughout multitasking the different meals preparation. 

"My family does a lot of big get-togethers for holidays and weekends and stuff," he explained casually over the sizzling volume of the grill and his focus seemingly perfect as he cut watermelon despite the multi-tasking. He'd proceeded to tell quite a few stories about some of those family dinners and what cooking he'd picked up during those that he was showing off for them now. June wasn't even miffed as he showed off different seasonings to explain what mixes he'd found were the best. She was too amused and proud to be miffed at getting her work hijacked and being told her seasoning choices were bland. Really, Jack could be listening more closely to what was shaping up like a reality show or demonstrative lecture. Her son knew how to make all the meals that were offered at KO Burger, but had the unfortunate habit of defaulting straight to microwavable corn dogs whenever he was in charge of making his meals at home. 

Then again, plenty of adults got by with food like that and cereal bowls (if she glanced Verity's way at the thought or brought up memories of her life mid-college, it went mostly unregistered). 

Besides, Ratchet would probably be proud to find out his honorary-human had picked up the medic's habit for micromanaging. June knew the story of their school science projects well enough from how often Miko and Jack would still rant about it. Yes, taking over all tasks of a team project seemed right up both Ratchet and Raf's alley by now. 

It was a nice evening, all in all. Maybe it wasn't the same feeling as it had always been, but times changed like that. Families changed like that. The base's mood had continuously evolved after cybertronians had become mainstream news on Earth and all of them were aging. It was most marked in the kids, but it was occurring for every human member of this base. 

Maybe it wasn't the same. Maybe the housewarming coming the next day was going to feel pretty far from the same mood as had surrounded the team back in the days when June had first learned of the 'science fiction club' and began visiting. Maybe Jack was giving her dirty looks for trying to integrate his rival into their picnic. 

Maybe that was all just fine. 

Humans aged. It was typical for families to expand concurrently to that aging. 

* * *

Late that evening, while the kids were watching tv and Ratchet and Wheeljack had left the main room to the humans and Ultra Magnus had returned to his ship, June found herself sitting peacefully with the second oldest adult present once again. 

"Hey." Verity elbowed her, though her head was facing forward rather than meeting June's eyes. "I dunno if the comment about the insecticons earlier bothered you. Sorry if it did, I just-...I don't like you much. Because of them, that is. All those other times you've tried to say hi and stuff..."

Queen's Creek. 

June knew vaguely that was where this new presence on the base had shown up from. Queen's Creek. An attack committed by insecticons under Airachnid's orders. 

"It was rather rude to not even give me a chance," she replied, despite how it left the other bristling. 

"No, wait. Listen. Do you know how I got my, what'd you call them, 'entourage'?" 

Of course not. 

Just like Verity never mentioned Queen's Creek to any of them (the information was only common knowledge because Ratchet had shared it to June after explaining why _"another one"_ was around), June kept her two abductions private. The hospital and neighborhood and her friends in Jasper knew she had the four insecticons and was letting them stay, but they didn't know the details on _why_. Ratchet’s comments on Verity merely being a charity case accepted by Magnus under pressure seemed inappropriate, but it wasn't the first or the last time the medic said things that were not called for.

It was still a hard topic to talk on, let alone think about willingly. Jack still carried residual upset against Ratchet. They both still were uncomfortable with June driving alone. She'd still wake up stifling noises so as not to alert him; wake up in sweat, wake up full of adrenaline and terror from the voice and stories and pulsing cut on an arm that had healed over a year before. 

But she could do it. 

So she did. She explained the first abduction with M.E.C.H. and Airachnid. She explained the second. 

She explained what Scalewing had on how they wanted to stay with her rather than follow the rest of the hive to dormancy or attempt to join Megatron; how they wanted to help her and were so earnest about it; how even still she sometimes had to tamp down on a panic reaction when she saw one, no matter how much she liked all four. 

"I wasn't about to turn them down when they came to me," June concluded. "But I wasn't the one who sought them out. It's never been my goal to flaunt them and bother people in Jasper or elsewhere."

Verity wrinkled her nose and lips. Her own response took a while to come out.

"I get it, I get it. You're not doing it on purpose. But..." 

But?

June didn't rush it.

"I see this leg. This lady, I suppose, but mainly just...that leg. Or what was left of it. It'll be a normal day and nothing will prompt it and it'll still just crawl up in front of my eyes to make me stare at it. And there's all this other stuff too, with cars getting backed up in traffic and too much smoke and it's nice to be on Cybertron if just 'cause the view through the spaceship's windows don't show anything similar to what a human city looks like when it's like _that_ , but that leg just comes back and back."

It was horridly familiar no matter how unique the image itself was to Verity's experience. Airachnid's abduction hit with reminder prompts and without them. 

They didn't talk much on either detail. Didn't keep bringing up things that'd only make both withdraw. But June knew a whole lot more about the newbie now. She knew that- years apart or not- both were stuck with the same form of ghost: the type that haunted at random and at triggers both and forced sights or sounds or tastes through their heads in a way Arcee had described a cybertronian experienced too. 

When she packed up to go home that night (Raf and Miko would be having a sleepover here so that they were ready to get bridged to Wyoming in the morning, but she and Jack and Arcee would be resting in their own home instead of some lumpy second-hand couch), it included a goodbye to the human who'd just started being included in meetings like this. Verity had wiggled free out of that hug pretty quick (June had the feeling the other hadn't had hugs normalized in her life before). That time, at least. 

But throughout the months to come, their conversations grew more open still and Verity's customary protest did nothing to hide the way she'd try inexpertly to hug the single parent of that strange family back. 


End file.
